Adjusting apparatus



P fi, 940. A. A. NORMAN ADJUSTING APPARATUS Filed lay 29, 19:59 2 Sheets-Sheet '1 Fig.1

lNVENTOR v HEY/L H- NORMAN Hi5 ATTORNEY April 6, 1940. A. A. NORMAN 2,197,192

' AnJusi'me APPARATUS Filed Ma 29, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Ii g..5v

1- 11' -5 flig-5 Hi5 ATTORNEY Patented Apr. 16;: 1940 My inventionrelates to apparatus for adjust ing the guide bars and knives or rotary slicers such as used for cutting cossettes from sugar beets in the process of manufacturing'beet sugar.

It is among the objects o'fmy invention to provide means for accurately setting the guide bars and knives ina rotary slicer whereby cossettes 10f uniform cross section are cut from the beet. ff Another object is to provide adjusting means of the charactefdescribed by which precision setting of the slicer parts 'may be accomplished quickly and easily. v

The invention possesses other objects and fea tures of advantage, some of which, withthe foregoing, will beset forth in the following .de'scription of my invention. It is to be understood that I do not limit myself to this disclosure of species of my invention, as I may adopt variant embodiments thereof within the scope of the claims. Referring to the drawings: Figure '1 is a plan View of the'adjusting-apparatus embodying my inventioni and section and partly in elevation.

Figure 2 is a side view of the same, partly series of knives, showing the offset arrangement of knife corrugations in one type of setting.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary plan' view of the aaa justing head on larger scale than Figure 1;-and

Figure 5 is'an end View of the'same.

Figure 6 is a vertical sectional view of the head;

taken ina plane indicated by line 6-6 of Fig ure 4.

Figure '7 is a vertical sectional'viewthrough a knife blockshowing the adjusting head in position for setting aguide bar; and i Figure 8 is a similar view showing the adjusting head in position for setting a knife. 'i

In the manufacture-of beet sugar the beets o are sliced into filaments called cossettes from which the-sugar is extractedby osmosis in a: d iffusion cell. For maximum efiiciency in the;diffusion step it is important that the cossettes' be of exact predetermined thickness and all of uniform cross-section; ,A common type of slicer for cutting these cossettes is the Maguin" rotary slicer, comprising a series of corrugated knives arranged on the inner surface of a'drum' with interposed guide or rocker bars for regulating the thickness of slice; The knives and guide bars are mounted one. series of arcuate sectionscalled knife blocks, which in turn are assembled on a spider to form the drum of the slicer;

It has been thepractice to set the guide bars and'knives by gauging the spacing of'th'e latter Figure 3 is a View looking atjtheends of a usuallyrou'gh castings and are subjectedto considerablejwear so that there is no reliable reference pointon the block'from which a precision setting of the parts can be made. Furthermore, thereiare variations between the blocks in the assembled drum due to inequalitiesin the blocks 1 themselves and to their separate mounting, so

that, a setting of the guide'bars and knives with referenceto one block does not necessarily coincide with those 'se't'with reference to I another block;- It "is the practice'to make guide bar and knife settings by gauging fromthe blocks in millimeters and fractions thereoL-but it is apparent thatthis carefulwork is nullified'by the variations inherent in the blocks.

11 a. f; r 74 1.

With my improved apparatus-the setting of the I guide barsand knives is gauged independently of theblocks an'd adjustment is effected solely with referencegto the axis of thedrum so thatthe guide barsland' knives are" set on predetermined equal radii, iwhereby' thelparts travel in exact circles about 'the'axis: of rotation when the assembled drumisinoperation. v

" In terms of, broad inclusion, 'my apparatusfor comprises gaug'efmeans movable about anaxis 1 coincid'ent with the section center (drum'axis) for positioning the element. The drum section I ,orzknife block is preferably held in 'a' suitable frame and the gauge means is preferably mounted on an arm pivoted onthe frame about an coincide With'the axes of the final drum. A retractable head is preferably provided on-the pivote'd arm-, and the gauge means for thegui'debars preferably comprises a finger mounted on the head. The gauge means for the corrugated I knives preferablyrcomprises a plate mounted on thefhead for adjustlngmovementtransversely of the arm and having a serrated edge registerable with the corrugations of a'knife.

In greater detail, and referring to the drawings,

"the apparatus embodying my invention comprises a fram 2 havinga bracket 3 for holding the knife block 40fa slicing drum. The drum of a "rotary beet cutter, such as a Maguin slicer, is

divided into a seriesof arcuate sections demountablygassembled on a' spider in the final drum. These'lsections' or fknife blocks are'usually castings machined to"fit accurately along abutting edges, and complementary holding bars 6 are provided in my machine for fixing block-4 in a position simulating that which it has in the final drum. The. block is: slidable endwise .into holdaxis located relative' to the drum section to I 25. adjusting an element on an arcuate' drum section I ing position and may readilybe replaced with another block to be adjusted. l

As shown in Figures 7 and 8 the knife blocks 4 provide a mounting for a series of corrugated knives I and interposed guide bars 8. Knives 1 are usually arranged in pairs extending across the width of the drum and are disposed one above the other about thecircumference of the drum, each block carrying say three; sets of knives. Figure 3 shows the forward cutting'edges of the knives with slitters 9 projecting from the backs of the corrugations. This is common knife construction. These knives are fastened-to cross pieces ID of a, block by suitable bolts II. Guide bars 8 are usually in the nature of half-round rocker bars seated in grooves in cross pieces l0 and held in adjusted position by studs l2 extending through slots I3. Thus by turning these bars in their seats the upper edges are adjusted relative to the knife edges to control the thickness of slice. When a block is set in my machine it is positioned to. point the knives downwardly as shown in Figure 8. I

There are two common ways of setting knives on a block. One is to offset the corrugations of adjacent sets of knives by one-half division sov that the-ridge of one knife is followed by a valley of the next knife, as shown in Figure 3. This full view of the knife edges is only for the purpose ,of showing the lateral displacement, of the knives in such a setting,.it being understood that the knivesare actually disposed one behind the other as-shown in Figure. 8. This offset, knife arrangement cuts. cossettes of rectangular cross-section In another type of knife, setting the corrugationsare aligned to cut v shaped cossettes. I

Referring again to my apparatus as shown in Figures 1 and 2, I provide a gauge arm having side pieces l4 and a center piece l6 secured together by cross-rods H. The rear cross-rod extends outwardly toprovide pivots I8. journaled in bearing brackets H! on the frame. A counterweight 2! on the rearwardly, projecting end of arm piece [6 serves to balance the arm; and a hand wheel 22 threaded on one end of the pivot rod serves to lock the arm inselected position.

An important feature of the machine isthat the axis of arm pivots I 8 is looatedgto coincide with the'axis of the final drum. Thus, theforward end of the gauge arm, swings across the face of block 4- in an. arc concentric with that of the block. lillements-v on block 4in themachine may therefore-be adjusted, by thegauge arm, independently of the block and solely with reference to the axis .of the drum sothat'the guide bars and knives may be set on predetermined equal radii, whereby the adjusted parts on all the blocks travel in exact circles about the-axis of rotation when the assembled drum is in oper-" ation.

A retractable head is preferably mounted on the forward end of the arm, and comprises a top plate 23.having side flanges 24 connected by a bottom plate, 26. The box-like head is slidable onthe arm piecesand a gib 21-ispreferab1y interposed between a side-of the arm and one of the head flanges. Retraction of the head is controlled through a link 2 8,by a lever 29. pivoted to the arm. Link 28 is preferably-made with telescoping sections held extended by a spring, 3|. A latch 32' on lever 25! is adapted to engage suitable notches in a rail 33,to hold the head in either extended or retracted position.

The gaugemeans for guide bars 8 on the knife block comprises a plurality ofsay three gauge fingers 34 mounted to'project forwardly from head plate 23. These fingers have a curved profile 36 for contacting the upper forward edge of the rocker bar being adjusted. See Figure 7. After a guide bar has been tilted to register with the gauge fingers it is fixed in adjusted position by studs' lZ, and the gauge arm is then shifted opposite another, guide bar. During, this phase of the adjustment the knives areabsent and the gauge fingershave a free path across the face of the block.

"Gauge fingers 34 are preferably mounted for movement out of their projecting positions to clear. the forward edge of the head for further gauging operations. For this purpose the fingers may merely be demountably fastened to the head by screws, but I prefer to mount them on hinges 31 so that they maybe simply tippedback out of the way. See Figure 8; The length of these gauge fingers is designed to set the upper edges of the guide bars a predetermined distance back from the lower inside edges of the knives. Usually; this back set orheight is of the order of two millimeters, and may be altered by replacing the gauge fingers 34' with others of different length. I a I v The gauge means for the knives preferably comprises a pair of gauge plates 38- having serrated forward edges 39;f or registering with the corrugations of the knives. These gauge plates are locked in selected position on head plate 23 registration with the serrated edges of the gauges.

During this adjustment a thin gauge plate 42 (Figure 8) is interposed between the top of guide bar 8 and the .lower edge-.of the knife to space theseparts a predetermined amount, say two millimeters. I

Following these adjustments the knives are fixedby tightening up bolts II; and the head is their retracted and the arm turnedfto a position opposite another set of knives. If: the positions of gauges 38-are not changed on the head the corrugations, of knives will be set in perfect alignment for cutting the V-shaped type of cossette.

Means are also provided for shifting the knife gauges laterally to offset the knives, as shown in Figure 3, for cutting the-rectangular cossettes. For this purpose gauge plates 38 are fastened by studs and, nuts 43 to a bar 44 slidably confinedrin agroove 46 in head plate 23, by straps 41; Aligning pins 58- are also preferably provided between the slide bar and gauge plates. A lever 48 pivotedto the head and engaging a pin 49 on the slide bar serves to shift the latter between'the limits permitted by straps 41 which also function as stops. These stops are so spaced that theknife gauges may be shifted laterally one-half the width of a corrugation. In setting the knives in the arrangement shown in Figure 3, alternate sets of knives are adjusted, withgauges '38 in one position, and the remaining setsv of knives are then adjusted with the. gaugesintheother. position, so that the corrugations of adjacent sets of, knives are offset. A; separate gauge piece, similar to the gauge 42; is preferably employed to-check the radial 7 height of the knives from the guide bars before removing the block from the machine.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for adjusting a corrugated knifeand guide bar on a section of a slicer'drum, comprising a frame for. holding said section, an arm.

pivoted on the frame about an axis coincident with the drum axis, a head on the arm, a gauge finger on the head for positioning said guide bar, and a gauge plate on the head and having a serrated edge registerable with the corrugations sitioning said guide bar, and a gauge plate on the head and having a serrated edge registerable with'the corrugations of the knife for positioning the latter. I

3. Apparatus for adjusting a corrugatedknife and guide bar on a section of a sheer drum, comprising a frame forholding said'section, anarm pivoted on the frame about an axis coincident with the drum axis, a head on the arm, a gauge finger on the head for positioning said guide bar, and a gauge plate mounted on the head for adjustable movement transversely of the arm and having a serrated edge registerable with the corrugations of the knife for positioning the latter.

4. Apparatus for adjusting elements on an arcuate section to insure equal radial spacing of said elements from an axis coincidentwith the section center, comprising a frame, means on the frame for holding said section, a gauge member for positioning said elements on the section, and means on the frame for pivotally mounting the gauge member about said axis.

5. Apparatus for adjusting elements on an arcuate section to insure equal radial spacing of said elements from an axis coincident'with the section center, comprising a frame, means on the frame for holding said section, a gauge member for positioning said elements on the section, means on the frame for pivotally mounting the gauge member about said axis, and

means on said mounting means for retracting the gauge member toward said center.

. 6. Apparatus for adjusting elements on an arcuate section to insure equal radial spacing of said elements from an axis coincident with the section center, comprising. a frame, means on the frame for holding said section, a gauge member for positioning said elements on the section, an arm for supporting the gaugemember, means on the frame for pivotally mounting the arm about saidaxis, and counterbalance means on said arm. v

7. Apparatus for adjusting a corrugated knife on a section of a slicer drum, comprising a frame, means on the frame for holding said section, a gauge plate registrable with the corrugations of the knife, and means on the'frame for pivotally mounting the gauge plate about an 1 axis coincident with the axis of the'drum to adjust the distance of the knife from said axis.

8. Apparatus for adjusting a corrugated knife on a section of a slicer drum, comprising aframe,

means on the frame for holding said section, a gauge plate registrable with the corrugations of the knife, means on the frame for pivotally mounting the gauge plate about an axis coincident with the axis of the drum to adjust the distance of the knife fromsaid axis, and means for shifting the gauge plate parallel to said axis for registration with a knife offset relative to the first knife. v v

' ARVIL A. NORMAN. 

